In a large pot boil enough water to cook 12 oz of pasta (about 16 cups with 2 tsp salt). Once the water is at a rapid and vigorous boil, add the pasta or rice noodles and stir a few times in the first few minutes to ensure the pasta does not all stick together. Cook until just done, about 7-8 minutes for pasta. Drain and set aside.

In a sauce pan over medium/low heat, add the peanut oil, then the ginger and garlic and minced pepper, if your using it. After 1 minute add the soy sauce and brown sugar, turn off the heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved, now add in the peanut butter, vinegar and sesame oil, stir until everything is mixed well. Thin it out with the coconut milk, add a tblsp at a time until you reached the desired consistency, (thick like a good pizza sauce). Set aside.

Mix the peanut sauce into the pasta, I always make too much peanut sauce so I have leftover for other dipping needs like chicken skewers, etc. That being said only add half the peanut sauce and mix together with the pasta and taste, adjust by adding more peanut sauce until you find a good balance.
Add the lime juice and mix in, now sprinkle the green onions and mix into the pasta. Taste, adjust seasoning as you like, I usually add a few red pepper flakes for added heat.

I love this dish hot, lukewarm, room temperature or any old way! Great to bring on picnics or to to potlucks, enjoy!

Start a pot of salted water on boil for your pasta. In a medium saute pan, add the butter on med/low heat, when melted add the garlic and chilis (if your using them), saute for 4 minutes, add in the sundried tomato or the real ones if that is what you're using. saute for another 4 minutes. Add in the coconut milk and the tomato paste and the lemon grass powder. bring to a simmer and lower heat. Once the water is boiling add your pasta to it, occasionally check the pasta for doneness. My egg noodles were done at this point. Drain completely and return to the pot. Add your minced basil to the sauce stir and turn off the sauce after 30 more seconds. Pour over the pasta, mix well and serve immediately. Yum! I added a pinch of salt and served.

in a food processor, add the chiles and garlic until roughly chopped.

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, add the water, sugar, vinegar, fish sauce and salt. Then add the chili/garlic mixture and simmer until the sugar dissolves.
Turn the heat down to a simmer for 5 minutes.

Whisk in the corn starch mixture and simmer for one more minute.

Cool down for service, store in a covered glass jar in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

Peel and then dice the cucumber, sprinkle salt on it and leave in a colander, place a weighted plate on top of the cucumber to help drain the liquid. Dry the cucumber with a paper towel.

In a food processor, add the garlic, run the processor, then add lemon juice and while running the processor drizzle the olive oil in slowly. Mix with the herbs, S&P and cucumber, stir all into the yogurt. Let sit in the refrigerator for a few hours so the flavors can merge together.

Enjoy!

In a pot of boiling water, add the 6 ounces of rice noodles, cook for 8 minutes, drain immediately and rinse under cool water until cold. The noodles may be stored in the water until your ready to roll the spring rolls (then you drain the water).

De-shell and clean the shrimp, rinse in cold water, and drain completely, a gentle squeeze can get a bit more water out.
I added a tablespoon of ginger syrup, used in cocktails, for a quick marinade with a dash of salt. You can use anything and nothing, from salt and pepper to boiling them plain for 45-60 seconds. I heated up a pan very hot with a couple teaspoons of any high heat oil and fry the shrimp for a minute (30 seconds each side) in small batches, until they are all fried off. Set aside, spread them out, and let them cool. You can also split them in half length-wise if they are large and you are stretching out your supply of shrimp.

In a large glass bowl add the juice of 1 lime, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tablespoon fish sauce and 2 cloves of minced garlic, mix until the sugar dissolves, this is our quick pickling mix, set aside.
Discard the ends of the carrot and the peel, cut into 3 inch long chunks and then cut those in half and make matchsticks out of the carrots. Cut the ends off the green onions, and then cut into 3 inch lengths and then julienne them length-wise. Now add all the julienned/match sticks of vegetables to the large bowl of our pickling mix along with the bean sprouts and mix well.

Mice en place: "gather all of your ingredients", the cleaned leaves of each herb separately in small bowls, the stack of rice wrappers, the rice noodles in their own bowl, the cooked shrimp in their own bowl, a pie plate sized container with warm-medium hot water and a center work area with a damp kitchen towel or lightly wet cutting board.

Dip a single wrapper into the warm/hot water for about 7-8 seconds, place on your damp work surface and first add the noodles to the very center bottom, leaving an inch of plain wrapper below it and on both sides, then place 5 or 6 pieces of the various pickled julienned vegetables on top of the rice noodles, make a quick fold of the edge, from the bottom, over the rice noodles and vegetables, tucking them into their own little section, now place 2 or 3 shrimp down, side by side next to the folded edge in the center of the wrapper, cover the shrimp with a sprig or 2 of cilantro, Thai basil and mint leaves. Now roll the noodle section over the top of the shrimp and herbs and tuck the left then the right sides over and finish rolling from the bottom to the top. If you are not eating these immediately, I'd recommend putting them in Tupperware with layers of parchment paper to keep them from sticking.

Use my Thai peanut sauce as a dip or the traditional Nuac Chom dipping sauce!

Toast the first 8 whole spices in a medium/low pan just until they are about to smoke or you can smell them.
Grind the spices, and when your done add to it the turmeric and paprika, mix together. Occasionally I will use a smoked paprika, especially when I crank the spice level up!

Mince the garlic and ginger, set aside.

Mix the tomato paste, chicken stock, white wine vinegar and sugar together and set aside.

Open the can of coconut milk and set aside.
In a large skillet (12-14"), at medium heat, add the olive oil and when warm, throw in the chopped onions and saute for 3 or 4 minutes.
Now add the minced garlic/ginger mix and saute for another 3 minutes.

Now stir in the spices, mix well and cook for about 1 minute
Now stir in the tomato paste, mix slightly, add the chicken stock, coconut milk, white wine vinegar and sugar and stir until mixed well.

If you wanted to add garbanzo beans, diced potatoes or meat, you can do so now.

Cook the sauce down on simmer, until it thickens, anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 minutes, depending on what you added to the mix.

For instance if I use boneless lamb cubes, I sear them, set them aside, and then add olive oil, the onions, after adding the meat back in at this stage, I cover with tinfoil (due to tougher meat, the lamb, being added), bring down the heat to simmer, then 30 minutes later I taste test, usually nice and tender at this point, I'll start the rice and spoon out any lamb fat that has risen to the top.

Serve with Basmati Rice and a side of Naan bread.

Pre-heat oven to 350° F.
Prepare a medium sized casserole dish by spraying with vegetable spray (or oil/butter the dish).
Slice the squash and zucchini length-wise, then slice each ½ length-wise again, then cut them cross-wise in ¼ chunks.
Add the carrots, zucchini and squash to sauce pan, cover with cold water, salt it well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and cover. Cook about 20 minutes, until the veggie's are soft.
Meanwhile in a skillet, melt 3 tblsp butter over med/low heat. Stir in the onions. Cook slowly until translucent, about 6-8 minutes. Add the garlic, cook for another minute. Set onions aside in a mixing bowl.
In the same skillet you just used, add the last of the butter (1 tblsp) over med/low heat, when melted, add ½ cup of the cracker crumbs. Cook the crumbs until they're golden brown, about one minute.
Drain the crumbs on a paper towel on a plate.
Now, drain the vegetables, mash them up slightly.
Add the mashed veggie's to the onion/garlic mix.
Stir in the remaining cracker crumbs (not the toasted crumbs!), cheese, dash or 2 of Tabasco sauce and salt and pepper to taste.
Stir in the eggs.
Transfer to the baking dish that's greased.
Sprinkle the toasted cracker crumbs over the top.
Bake uncovered for 30 minutes, until golden brown and slightly firm in the center.
Serve hot.

Pre-heat the oven to 400°F.
After grating the zucchini, squeeze out the excess water, combine all ingredients.
On a lightly greased sheet pan add 1 tblsp of the mixture with some space inbetween each tblsp of mixture.
Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the tops and sides have started to brown.